Tell President Obama to Stop Federally Funded Discrimination

This Saturday, June 25, marks the 70th anniversary of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing Executive Order 8802—the first
executive order to bar federal contractors from discriminating in employment
based on “race, creed, or national origin.” Several other presidents have expanded and
strengthened these protections. One of the most important expansions is Executive Order 11246,
signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, which grants the
Department of Labor the authority to enforce these
protections.

In 2002, however, President George W. Bush issued Executive
Order 13279, which exempted religious organizations from Executive Order 11246, and allowed them to discriminate in hiring based on religion.

For over 60 years prior to the 2002 executive order, our
government was strongly commited to the notion that no one would be
discriminated against in federally funded jobs because of his or her
religion. In a speech in Zanesville,
Ohio, President Barack Obama affirmed his commitment to this principle by saying “if you get a
federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you
help and you can’t discriminate against them—or against the people you hire—on
the basis of their religion.”

Yet nearly three years into his presidency,
this practice is still in place. Urge President Obama to honor this momentous anniversary by living up
to his campaign promise and righting the wrong President Bush did when he rolled back these traditional safeguards
and core civil rights protections. Tell President Obama to stop allowing religious organizations to discriminate against federally funded
employees on the basis of religion.

Recipients

The President Barack Obama

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Message

Tell President Obama to Stop Federally Funded Discrimination

Dear [Decision Maker],

As a friend of the Center for Inquiry, I urge you restore the civil rights protections provided by previous executive orders, and to stop allowing religious organizations to discriminate against federally funded employees on the basis of religion.